Mount Tamalpais
Route Review:
I biked from Bolinas to the Mount Tamalpais East Peak parking lot. I started on Olema Bolinas Road, then on Fairfax-Bolinas Road, Ridgecrest Boulevard, then finally on East Ridgecrest Boulevard.
I initially planned on parking at the trailhead of Bob Stewart Trail, but I found parking much closer to Fairfax-Bolinas Road, so I just pulled over and started biking.
Fairfax-Bolinas Road was a gorgeous trail. The road is a steady climb without any rest, but the incline is a steady grade so it never became torturous for me. It is a single lane road without a divider, so I was wary of cars, but on the way up, I didn’t see one car travel this road. On the way down, I did see a few vehicles, but they were careful drivers.
Ridgecrest Boulevard was the highlight of the ride for me the views of the rolling hills were beautiful—the two lane road straddles a ridge, so the views were amazing in both directions. Because the road followed a ridge, there were both up and downhill sections.
East Ridgecrest Boulevard was the final leg of the ride and it too had great views—mainly of Sausalito. There were many more cars and bikers compared to the other parts of the ride, but it was still less than at Mount Diablo.
What I Learned:
While the first and last quarter of the ride was engulfed in fog and hindered the views, I felt extremely lucky for it. First, it led to the beginning of the ride having a magical quality to it... as if I were in a mystical forest. And for the final part of the ride, it cooled me down when I needed it most.
I had lubricated my deraillure and chains the night before the ride and all the shifts were crisp and effortless. I really love my microshift Advent X drivetrain.
Media Consumed:
Falling—finished!
What Happened?
23.3 miles, 3 hr 23 min, 3368 ft of ascent
Much like my ride up Mount Diablo, I wanted to start the ride at sunrise, so I set my alarm to 3:50am and totally slept through it. I woke up with a start at 6:16am, and quickly got dressed and drove towards Bolinas. I parked my car in Bolinas around 8:30am, and started riding. I hoped to avoid my achilles strain, so unlike the previous rides, I actually stretched and hoped it would keep the strain away.
As the miles started to slowly accumulate, I felt strong. Well, until someone really fast would pass me, but then the feelings of strength would come back as my memory of the faster rider would fade.
One of the reasons why the ride felt so short for me was that the audiobook I was listening to, Falling, was so captivating. The book was propulsive that I barely paid attention to my body complaining. Half way up the mountain though, my achilles started to get that familiar feeling of being overused and I immediately felt like my body was betraying me. But within a few seconds, I gathered myself and pushed on. The achilles felt worse and worse with each mile, but I reached the summit without too much drama. I rested a bit, ate some snacks, and headed down.
On the way back, one item of note was that, I spotted a roadside boulder on the way up on Ridgecrest Boulevard that looked climbable, so I stopped by on the way down—I climbed it and I’d rate it a V-easy, and very fun.
Overall, I loved this ride. The views were just top notch; the cars I thought I would have to dodge while riding never materialized; and for one of the premier peaks in the Bay Area, I thought it was not a hard ride.